It's time for Sunbelt Expo

What is in this article?:

• The Sunbelt Expo is a must-see event for full-time farmers, part-time farmers, would-be farmers, and anyone who enjoys the rural lifestyle and living in the country.

• The best technology the agricultural industry has to offer will be on display during the Sunbelt Expo Oct. 19-21.

• Visitors to the Sunbelt Expo will find 100 acres of both indoor and outdoor exhibits, along with an adjoining 600-acre working research farm. The show has something for everyone involved in agriculture.

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Fall in south Georgia — leaves on trees are slowly changing colors and a coolness is in the air. These subtle signals tell us it’s time again for the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition.

The gigantic three-day farm trade show has earned its well-deserved reputation as North America’s Premier Farm Show.

The Expo is a must-see event for full-time farmers, part-time farmers, would-be farmers, and anyone who enjoys the rural lifestyle and living in the country.

The best technology the agricultural industry has to offer will be on display during the show Oct. 19-21.

It will again be held at its permanent location, Spence Field, the site of an old former military airbase near Moultrie, Ga. The Spence Field Expo site is located four miles southeast of U.S. Hwy. 319 on Ga. Hwy. 133.

Spence Field facilities allow for onsite overnight camping. A 4,500-foot runway controlled by the Federal Aviation Administration is available for private and charter airplanes.

For farmers needing equipment or wanting to see new agricultural technology put to use in a real farm setting, the Sunbelt Expo is the place to be.

Visitors to the show will find 100 acres of both indoor and outdoor exhibits, along with an adjoining 600-acre working research farm. The show has something for everyone involved in agriculture.

If you haven’t been to the Expo before, keep in mind that this show is big. You won’t be able to see everything in one day, or even in three days.

If you’re a returning visitor, you’ll notice a few changes at the show this year. For instance, popular backyard gardening demonstrations and seminars will be moving this year to the Family Living building.

The Expo’s hunting and fishing exhibits will be relocating to Agribusiness Building-4. Sheep and goat exhibits will be moving to the horse pavilion, and the dairy exhibits will be located under a new permanent building.

The crop harvesting and land tillage demonstrations, the equipment driving ranges, irrigation technology on display and the precision farming demonstrations all provide opportunities to see and compare a wide range of farming equipment.

Equipment company representatives will be in the fields and will be eager to answer any questions about their machinery.

The Expo farm is a working year-round agricultural classroom and laboratory, generating new information on the latest farming technologies.

New crop varieties, tillage systems, row spacings, fertilizer treatments, weed control, plant disease control and insect control methods are first tested at Expo before being introduced for commercial use.

For instance, the Expo farm pioneered the growing of peanuts using twin rows, conservation-tillage and new varieties to overcome the damage of tomato spotted wilt virus. University of Georgia Extension specialists still use the Expo farm to test new production and crop protection practices.

There’s no doubt the crop harvesting and land tillage demonstrations set Sunbelt Expo apart among major U.S. farm shows. When farm equipment manufacturers introduce new machines, Expo is the venue they select to first showcase the equipment.

Four- and six-row cotton pickers and self-propelled peanut combines were all first introduced at Sunbelt Expo.

The first opportunity for farmers in the Southeast to see cotton pickers with built-in module builders was at the Expo farm a few years ago.